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Artefactual incised wounds due to postmortem predation by the Sri Lankan water monitor (kabaragoya)

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Abstract

Monitor lizards are large reptilian animals mostly seen around water based habitats. Sri Lanka has an endemic water monitor lizard called the kabaragoya (Varanus salvator salvator) which is perhaps the most common large animal scavenger in the country. Scavenging by the kabaragoya can result in postmortem incised injuries which are caused by their sharp pointed claws as they grip or crawl over a dead body. The author presents four cases where these claw marks raised significant medicolegal issues. In one case of a young female they mimicked defense injuries that might be seen in a person that was killed with heavy sharp weapon trauma to the head. In another case, claw marks on the face raised homicidal allegations in an immersion death following intoxication. In a case of suicidal drowning these injuries simulated self-inflicted cuts. The fourth case shows how claw marks complicated the investigation of a dismembered upper limb. Kabaragoya claw marks are mostly seen in decomposed and macerated bodies recovered from water. Injuries are mostly superficial and limited to skin and soft tissues. Bony injuries are not seen. Awareness of the creature’s scavenging habits and careful analysis of the appearance and distribution of the injuries is essential to differentiate claw marks from sharp weapon trauma.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Uthpala Attygalle, Consultant in Forensic Medicine at the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Colombo for providing the case record and photographs of Case 2 above; Mr. Kasthuri Weerasuriya, Senior Technical Officer of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the Faculty of Medicine Colombo for photography in Case 4 above.

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  1. Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka

    Sameera A. Gunawardena

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  1. Sameera A. Gunawardena
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Correspondence to Sameera A. Gunawardena.

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Gunawardena, S.A. Artefactual incised wounds due to postmortem predation by the Sri Lankan water monitor (kabaragoya). Forensic Sci Med Pathol 12, 324–330 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-016-9781-1

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